Yep...sounds like you guys are playing well. You have to be excited about your season. I disagree about the first two weeks being "Just" conditioning. I think that's when we work technique-drill, technique-drill etc.. Still, success breeds success.

My thoughts on the Ulysses v. Chapman matchup....

Chapman can't afford to make errors as they have in the previous two games against a team like Ulysses. Chapman was on the 1 yard line and couldn't score last week! Turnovers need to decrease and Arveson needs to have recievers awake and catching.

Some weirdness to the mix:

Ulysses one loss came to Hays 3-0, Hays was unimpressive in beating Marysville, but snapped Salina Souths district win streak this year in 5a.

Common Opponent for Ulysses and Chapman is Clay Center whom both played at their respective homes: Ulysses won by 35 points and Chapman won by 31 points...so only 4 points difference in a similar opponent.

Ulysses has outscored opponents 460-67 (Against teams that made the playoffs 50 of the 67 points have been scored by the opposition which was 5 games).

Chapman has outscored opponents 246-135 on the year (Against teamst that made the playoffs in Kansas, their 5 opponents only managed 36 total points, 24 of which came against Rose Hill. Chapman shut out 3 playoff teams on the year)

And shame on Jeff for saying football could get you ready for Wrestling. Im going to have to have a talk with him.

I think that Chapman will have to pass a lot to beat Ulysses. Pratt didn't have the speed to match up to the Tiger running game, and if Chapman is not really fast they better be putting some points up on a real regular basis. Ulysses will come at you in all aspects of the game. I have recently been in Manhattan working on a boat ramp and listen to WIBW splrts. To listen to them, the ONLY 4a teams that exist are Hayden and Holton, with possibly Collegiate (which we now know was wrong)being a factor in 4a, Although Greg Sharpe has said that 4a is ungodly tough this season. The biggest thing about that is that while I hear him mention western teams in all the other classes, I haven't heard mention of Ulysses up to the second round when I stopped listening to the program. I am here to tell you, Ulysses is not a team to overlook. I honestly believe that Chapman has way more than they can handle in Ulysses, especially since they have to go to the end of the river Styx to play them. They will encounter the most hostile crowd that they have seen this season, and it is really easy to lose focus when confronted with the environment that they will encounter both on and off the field.

winter sports practice starts monday nov 14.

as far as Gabel is concerned, kids not out for football, (which in St. Francis is everybody is out for football), are obligated to show up monday the 14th. so since no one will be there the mats will still be out ready and waiting in the practice room regardless. even after the football season is over athletes have the option to take a week off before reporting to wrestling pratice. although most dont take the week off in order to prepare for the first tournament of the season.

Sainty is focused on the task of preparing for Smith center this friday. a rematch from last year sectionals championship, a game that Sainty has not forgotten. should be a great game since Smith and Saint run identical offenses and styles not to mention Lambert is a former player from Smith center.

If Chapman looks at stats and plays the way they've been playing on last second miracles Ulysses will thump them. On the bright side Ulysses has lost this year to a team Chapman didn't want to play (Hayes offered but we took on Blair Oaks instead) Oh well...next year Blair Oaks gets replaced with Pratt which could be fun.

WRESTLING (Boys)
Section 1: General Regulations (none)
Section 2: Senior High Regulations
Art. 1: Practice shall not begin prior to Monday of Standardized Calendar Week #20.

a. A student who has been out for a fall sport shall not start practice until after the team on which he competed or had membership in a fall sport, has completed its season.

NOTE: A cross country or football participant is considered as having completed such season, if he does not qualify for entry in the state cross country meet or is not continued on the squad when a team advances to the football play-off series.

As hard as it is for adults to admit, kids get tired. I think that mostly they get tired of being on a tight schedule. Physically, after a few days, they should be good to switch sports, but I remember when I was in HS it was great to have that week off. Usually, about Wednesday, it was time to get back to work. Coach Gable has the right idea on that. What you do in late February is much more important than what you do in late November.

scores from November 5
CLASS 2-1A

St. Marys 30, Doniphan West 0
Remington 29, Uniontown 28
Lebo 49, Centralia 6
Colgan 54, Canton-Galva 0
Smith Center 58, Sacred Heart 14
St. Francis 48, St. John 0
Hoxie 16, Claflin 6
Oakley 46, LaCrosse 0

games Friday November 11

CLASS 2-1A

Remington (10-1) at St. Marys (7-4)

Pittsburg-Colgan (10-0) at Lebo (11-0)

Smith Center (11-0) at St. Francis (9-2)

Hoxie (8-3) at Oakley (11-0)

CLASS 2A
Favorite Point Difference Underdog
90.9 Colgan 0 LEBO 90.8
97 OAKLEY 7 Hoxie 89.6
116.8 Smith Center 27 ST. FRANCIS 90.3
83.2 ST. MARYS 7 Remington 76.6

I would like to say congrats to smith center on one heck of a game. We lost to you guys 20-14 lastnite. Both teams played their butts off to win the game and they came out on top, in a game that didn't have any scoring in the second half. Congrats and kick oakley's ass.

My hat is off to Ulysses. You guys are really good. I am sad to see the Chapman season end but I am still so proud of what they have accomplished. For a team that was ranked 5th in their league, they have shown that they can win. We are a young team with many players who will be returning next year. Now, its on to cheer for my relatives on the Hayden team as they take on Holton next week in a game that should actually be the state championship game. On the plus side, we can start getting ready for the wrestling and basketball season. We are going to be a really young team in wrestling this year with little expectations so hopefully, we will do what the football team did - play with a lot of heart and determination.

What was the final score? I think the momentum killer was when Chapman didn't score right before halftime to bring it within 1 score.

NM...35-7 was the final.

Found it interesting that of the 5 NWKL schools - two (Hoxie & Atwood) were knocked out of the playoffs by a team from their own league and the other three (Oberlin, Sainty and Oakley) were knocked out by Smith Center.